


Love Is Not Born Of Tradition

by redandblueispurple



Series: Love Is Patient [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Male Character, Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Clueless gays, Cuban Lance (Voltron), F/M, Fake dating? fake dating, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gay Disaster Keith Kogane, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gay disaster, Homophobic Language, Homophobic Slurs, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Pianist Lance (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Racial slurs, Selectively Mute Character, Slow Burn, Slurs, Trans Keith (Voltron), Trans Male Character, but - Freeform, clueless disasters, just a little, lance pines from the beginning, mute character, quinceañera, selective mutism, supportive family, wow i'm actually doing a real slow-burn for once
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-15 05:02:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16056080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redandblueispurple/pseuds/redandblueispurple
Summary: Under the threat of his parents and grandparents wanting to set him up with one of the women associated with his uncle's company, Lance panics and tells them he has a boyfriend. In fact, he'd even be glad to bring his boyfriend with him to Violett's Quinceañera over fall break.Just one little problem, Lance doesn't have a boyfriend.Lucky for him, Keith needs a place to stay during fall break and Lance is desperate.





	1. Day 0: Diners and Drivers

Lance was, for the fourth time that day, panicking. "Pidge, why did I have to say that? Why did the good lord make me like this?" He let his head fall against the table Pidge and him occupied, letting out an accompanying sigh of exasperation.

Pidge pinched the bridge of their nose before closing their laptop. "Listen, Lance. Keith already agreed to fake date you. You guys are meeting up here to discuss the rules, just relax and go with the flow, okay?"

Lance draped himself over the desk dramatically. "But we can't even be in the same room together without fighting! My mama and dad aren't idiots, Pidge. They'll know it's a ruse immediately."

 

You see, to put it simply, Lance made a Mistake. What was this mistake? Lying to his parents about a significant other. Even worse? The fool was so desperate he practically begged several people to pretend to be his boyfriend, among these people was one particular guy who just happened to need somewhere to go for fall break. Someone who Lance had long before declared nothing other than an insufferable rival, who had good ideas and an okay attitude every now and then. This particular someone was none other than Keith Kogane himself. Keith Kogane was infamous amongst his peers and superiors alike for having an attitude one can, at best, describe as argumentative. He was an honor student, the only one amongst them with a criminal record. Naturally, part of his mystery was that he refused to tell anyone what he did to earn that record. So no one really knows Keith Kogane, save for his adopted brother Takashi Shirogane and friend Pidge Holt of course, and now he and Lance McClain, by some twist of fate, are now spending an entire two weeks with each other. It is through this unexpected turn of events that Keith Kogane is now walking towards Lance and Pidge (10 minutes late mind you), gaining stares and whispers from those around him and an uneasy look from a campus security officer getting a coffee in the corner.

Keith, seemingly oblivious to the attention he's receiving, drops his bag on the ground and sits next to Pidge. He took the hair tie from his hair, ruffling it to its natural state. Pidge commented without looking up, "You're late."

Keith sighed, "Sorry Pidge. Had to walk from the studio, took longer than I anticipated I guess." He turned to Lance, "Alright let's get this over with, I've got a project to finish up before we leave- wait, when are we leaving?"

Pidge looked up, a bemused look on their face. "Wait, you didn't tell him?"

Lance smiled sheepishly, "Kinda sorta, forgot?"

Pidge cackled and turned to Keith, "You guys leave the day after tomorrow."

Keith snapped his head towards Lance, glaring. "We're what?"

Lance seemed to shrink down under Keith's glare, though really, who could blame him? Keith had the kind of icy glare that would send chills down the spine of the devil himself.

Keith got up, walked over to Lance, and crouched beside him. "Lance," Lance, feeling that he was being talked down to and being the petty bitch he is, kept his head down. Keith grabbed Lance's head and made him look his way. "Why am I just now hearing this?"

Lance yanked himself out of Keith's grasp and glared right back, "I didn't think it was relevant at the moment, and it must have slipped my mind." he spat.

Keith clenched his jaw before taking a deep breath and standing up, shrugging his shoulders. "Okay." he went to his seat and sat back down, "Let's get this figured out so I can go back to the studio."

By this time, Pidge had gathered their things and left. Lance made a 'tch' sound and pulled out a notebook. "Alright, terms and conditions."

"Can't we just skip through it and say I Agree and move on?" Keith groaned.

Lance chuckled and shook his head, "Naw, much as I wish we could, we can't."

Lance does not, by any means, have a full-on country accent. His father Leo came to America from Cuba when he was 17. Lance's mother Alya came four years before Leo when she was 14. She was sent over with her mother and three sisters in the cargo-hold of an exports ship. Leo and his brothers came on a smaller ship, facing tropical storms nearly the whole way. They met each other on the way to Tennessee, why they decided on this place is limited solely to the musical history. Eventually, they got the money to be able to get their citizenship. They started a family in Collierville, Tennessee as well as a small business on main street next to the coffee shop. Lance grew up there, and to say college in New York was a major change is quite the understatement. Lance obviously uses much southern dialect but breaks into full southern accent as rarely as a full Cuban accent. The reason they're leaving the day after tomorrow is that they can't take a plane because the nearest airports to Collierville are both too far away for Lance to ask his family to pick them up, so they have to drive around 16 hours without any stops.

Together Keith and Lance figured out the terms of their agreement. Quite obviously, no telling anyone you see that it's fake. Only kiss when necessary for cover. Only mild insults. Things like that. Once everything was written and agreed upon, they both signed at the bottom and went their separate ways. Lance to his dorm so he can get packed early, and Keith to the studio to try and finish his project.

When Keith got to the studio, he tied his hair back up into a bun, his undercut peeking through. Luckily tomorrow is a Thursday, usually, he has one class on Thursdays but his professor's wife went into labor today so the teacher sent out an email that all of his classes are postponed until further notice and to continue with the assigned reading on their own. Keith digs out everything he needs once again, the paint he had had to order specially, his lucky brushes he had stashed, his palate he'd gotten from Shiro as a graduation gift, his paint rollers along with their paint cans, and his spray paint. He decided he'd come back for the ladder. You see, the art department recommended Keith to handle a mural the University needed to be done in the fine arts building. The mural is one promoting equality, as recently on school grounds there has been a certain group rallying against the LGBTQ community and equal workers rights, so the mural is meant to signify that all people are accepted on campus so that perhaps those who express their opposition with hostility will realize the administration will not be supporting them. Keith decided to depict a galaxy as a background to attract attention, the words "Equality Is For All" the word All he decided to do in a deep crimson whereas the rest of the letters were in black. Throughout the galaxy background, he has subtle colored themes in certain areas of different pride flags. You'd have to know what you were looking for to see it, but sometimes that's what gets through to you, sometimes to make something stand out and be truly beautiful, you have to allow it to blend in. At this point, Keith wasn't even halfway through with the Galaxy background, he wanted it to be as great as he could make it. Keith took great pride in his space paintings, whether it be a galaxy or a nebula. The mural was an indescribable combination of the two. Keith didn't always believe he was very good at what he did, but he knew he was good at two things, freehanded spray-painting, and space. He got everything set up and started in with spray paint, crossing in between colors to blend them into cloud-like figures. He has his earbuds in, blasting a song he'd heard millions of times before to drown out the sounds of everything else. He had to use the ladder to do detailing, his palate balanced on his arm while he paints a sea of blended mixtures between warm and cool colors. He uses whites grays and yellows to paint grains and dots, depicting star dust billowing together in beautiful clouds of pinks purples and blues, blues whites and pastel pinks.

Keith worked nonstop for hours, he went through five coffees, nine Monsters, four Red Bulls, six bottles of water, and fell off the ladder five times. He took a single break on Thursday to pack everything he'd need for Collierville, he finished around three am Friday morning, collapsing in front of the wall, hair still tied up, and absolutely covered in paint. He didn't bother going to his arm, in fact, even if he wanted to he wouldn't have had the energy to make it all the way there. He was so exhausted after having not slept for around four days due to studying and painting, that he didn't even dream when he fell asleep on the cold tile floor.

Around 10:30 on Friday morning Lance ran into the fine arts building in a panic, he couldn't find Keith in his dorm, nor Shiro's chambers, and not even with Pidge. Though, Pidge did tell him to check the Seven Eleven and the Fine Arts building. Lance had already checked the Seven Eleven so, of course, went to the only place left to look.

"Keith!" He yelled, not recognizing the large lump on the floor, nor the new change in the scenery before him. "Keith, are you in here?" he looked down, at last, recognizing the groans, "Keith!" He walked forward and kicked Keith's shoulder lightly. "Wake up, why are you still in Wednesday's clothes?" he looked around at all the paint cans, brushes, and spray paints. He looked at the wall, just now noticing the mural. "whoa..." he trailed off "did you paint this?" He looked down at Keith who was sitting up, groaning and wiping his eyes.

Keith glanced up at the wall then back at Lance before getting up, cracking his neck. "Yes, Lance. That's why I'm covered in paint and," a yawn interrupted his sentence. "Was curled up in front of it next to a ladder." He sneezed.

Lance sighed, "Did you sleep at all besides last night?"

Keith thought for a second, he couldn't have because he was working the whole time. "No, took a break yesterday to pack and I took small breaks to stock up on drinks periodically, but I didn't sleep until around 3 am last night."

Lance pinched the bridge of his nose, "Did you at least eat?"

Keith thought again, "I had a granola bar yesterday."

Lance shook his head and started picking up the brushes and cans of paint. "Come on, I'll help you put this stuff up, then we'll go grab your stuff from your dorm and grab a bite to eat. How does Ihop sound?"

Keith opened his mouth to start to argue but closed it when his stomach growled. "Yeah, okay. That sounds good, thanks."

Lance nodded and noticed Keith's hair tied up, he had never noticed the undercut before. It made Lance angry, for some reason. Made him want to punch him right then and there, but decided against it because there's no valid reason. Odd.

They brought the brushes and paint back to the studio, Keith stashing his brushes where he always does, and taking the now clean palate with him back to the dorm so that he knows someone won't pick it up by mistake.

They walked out, Keith starting to just walk to his dorm but Lance grabbed his shirt sleeve and pulled him towards his car. "You are severely sleep deprived, you are not walking from here to your dorm."

Keith rolled his eyes. "Okay, mom. It's not like I haven't slept, I got a good like seven hours."

Lance glared and stopped at his car. "Yeah, after not sleeping for 36 hours."

Keith sighed in defeat as he got in the car. "I just don't see the problem, it's not like this is exactly new for me. Never been a problem in the past, doubt it'll be a problem in the future."

Lance got in on the driver's side. "Alright, I guess. Just, try not to fall asleep randomly, it's kind of terrifying."

Keith simply grunted in response.

It was quiet, (save for the hum of the engine) for only a few seconds before Lance said, "What was the mural for?"

"Some assholes on campus have been taking things too far, the university wants to show their support for the gays. Personally, I wanted to make it say Ya'll Means All but Mr. Coran said no so..."

Lance snorted, "That sounds like you."

They bickered back and forth for a little bit, all good-hearted of course, and soon they arrived at Keith's dorm. Lance helped Keith get his suitcase, and soon they were back in the car on the way to ihop.

When they got to ihop, Keith ordered a stack of red velvet pancakes, two eggs cooked over-easy, and bacon. He ordered apple juice to drink. When he got his food he drenched in in both blueberry and strawberry syrup. Lance got black coffee and a cup of water.

Keith pointed at Lance after taking a bite. "Aren't you going to eat?"

Lance smiled and shook his head. "Nah, I'm not hungry. I ate this morning."

Keith, naturally, didn't believe him. Lance's stomach had been growling in the car. He put a bite of pancake on his fork. "Eat."

Lance laughed. "No thanks, that's a pound of sugar I don't need in my life. Your sweet tooth is matched by none."

Keith shrugged, eating the bite himself. "Fair enough," he held out a slice of bacon, "Eat this then."

Lance's smile wavered for a split second before he was smirking again. "Okay, if it'll get you to shut up, I will." He took the bacon and bit into it, reluctantly. "See, it's me, eating food."

Keith watched until Lance ate the entire piece, then went back to his stack of pancakes, content. "Alright, can't have the driver passing out on me."

"I'm only driving the first 8 hours. Then it's all you."

Keith nodded, his mouth full. "I never realize how hungry I am until I stop like, doing things for a second."

Lance chuckled softly, "I can tell, we'll get some drinks and snacks for the ride at Seven Eleven on the way out of town. Eat your food so we can go, we've got a long day of driving ahead of us.

Keith finished up his food, they paid and left the restaurant. On the way out of town, as promised, they stopped at a Seven Eleven. Lance got a couple packages of buckwheat rice cakes and a couple cases of diet cokes, and Keith picked up some mountain dews and lots of chips and fruit-snacks and grapes. Keith, obviously, tends to eat like a child when on road trips.

After they bought everything they loaded up and headed out. Keith fell asleep in the first thirty minutes of the ride, Lance looked over and chuckled when he noticed. When one was driving the other was asleep, it was a good system. If they were asleep then they didn't have to speak.

It's not that Lance and Keith never got along, though it is true that whenever they were around their friends they usually ended up in a fight, in fact when they were on their own they got along moderately well. When others are added to the equation they're both different than on their own, Keith is reserved and defensive whereas Lance is loud and simply strives to be what people want. Lance and Keith have an unspoken agreement that neither particularly cares what the other thinks of them, so neither strives to be what the other expects. They still fight, of course, their worldviews aren't that different, but their approaches are. Or so they assume. In actuality, both are rather aggressive in their beliefs. Both believe the other doesn't go far enough, but neither knows how radical the other really is. Though, I suppose, we'll get into that later in their story.

Indeed, their's is just one of the billions spiraling through the webs of fate. Tears will be shed, glances shared, and memories made.


	2. Day 1: Fittings and Fingerless Gloves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith arrive in Lance's hometown, Collierville, and his sibling excitedly welcome him home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT; There is a homophobic and a racial slur in this chapter, there is someone harassing someone else, and I will put some dashes and underscores; (-_-_-_) before and after the part. They will be bolded, everything turns out fine, no one is hurt, except for the racist homophobic guy but that's more immediate karma than anything.

After 16 long hours of driving, the boys finally arrive in Collierville. Lance has Keith pull over once they get to town so that he can drive to the house. Their house is what you'd call a multi-family home. There are six bedrooms and four bathrooms, when they built it they were only planning on needing it when the extended family came to visit. Five kids and two grandchildren later, they figured out they were sorely mistaken. Lance's oldest brother Mateo had two kids five years ago, twins. Lance absolutely adored his niece and nephew with his entire being, as he often told anyone who'd listen every time he received updates. Saying that Lance was excited to see his family is an understatement, and the fact that it's for both Violett's Quinceañera and Thanksgiving makes it that much more exciting. Lance immediately switched to his favorite radio station from when he and his siblings were younger. 

Keith was, to say the least, nervous. He'd never met Lance's family before, and the chances of them not liking him were very high, he thought. It's not that it would matter all that much after they got back to New York, but he had to spend the next two weeks with them so it would be kind of awkward if they hated him the entire time. He let out a deep, shaky breath and messed with the bracelet on his wrist that Shiro got him two years ago. He stared out the window, the town was the smallest he'd ever been in seeing as he'd grown up in Brooklyn. They passed town the town square and it looked nice, Keith decided. His thoughts were disturbed by Lance laying on the horn as he passed a man working in his yard. 

"Hey Jonathan!" Jonathan smiled and waved at Lance as he slowed to a stop. "How's the store been doing?"

Jonathan stopped raking to talk with Lance, he spoke with a deep southern drawl. "She's going good, I reckon. Annabelle's been working hard keeping everything up and running while I'm out of commission. You oughta stop by and see her 'fore she closes up tonight."

Lance grinned and nodded, "Reckon I will, Jonathon. By the way, this is Keith."

Keith's head snapped up upon hearing his name, he looked out at Jonathan and smiled. "Hi there."

Jonathan waved at Keith, grinning. "Hiya, how you enjoying Collierville so far?"

Keith nodded his head as he spoke, "From what I've seen so far, which isn't much I suppose, I think I'll really like it."

Lance cranked the car up again and waved at Jonathan, "We'd better get home but I'll take you out to coffee soon to catch up."

Jonathan nodded and shifted his weight off of the rake to continue with the leaves. "Alrighty, you tell your momma hi from me, you hear?"

"Yes sir, it was good to see you." Lance put the car in drive drove off, Jonathan waving in the background.

"Who was that?" Keith asked, stretching as far as he could in the cramped car. 

Lance turned down a street before answering Keith, "He owns a hardware store on down near the coffee shop. Usually he'd be down there working on shelving and working the counter, but he had a stroke a couple weeks ago and the doctor told him he had to stay put for a while." Lance turns left down one last street, slowing down. A small smile grew on his face. "Ma bakes for the coffee shop sometimes."

They pulled up to a two story house with kids playing in the front yard, when they notice Lance they squeal and run towards the car. Lance opens the door and hugs the children immediately. "Alex! Layla!"

Lance picked the two up and swung them around in the air. They giggled and Alex pointed at Keith, who had just gotten out of the car and was leaning against the hood. "Who's that, Lance?"

Lance set them down and pulled Keith over by the had. "This is Keith, he's my boyfriend."

For a moment Keith forgot what was going on and opened his mouth to argue, but remembered at the last second and closed his mouth, forcing a smile.

"Keith this is Layla and Alex, my niece and nephew." 

Keith smiled for real this time and bent down next to them, he'd always been good with people younger than him. "It's nice to meet you guys, I've heard a lot about you."

"Oh yeah?" Alex looked at Keith with a twinkle in his eye his arms crossed, "What'd ya hear?"

Keith pretended to think hard, "I heard when you tried to wear your dad's suit jacket last year and ended up falling down the stairs, Layla. I heard when your uncle's dog had puppies you got to keep one, Alex. You named her Iris."

The two children looked bewildered. "You really have heard a lot!" Alex exclaimed.

Keith nodded. "Your uncle Lance absolutely adores you two." He stood up and his face immediately dissolved into a neutral expression as he turned to Lance. "I'll get the stuff and meet you inside."

As Keith turned to walk to the back of the car he felt two little hands grab either arm. He turned to see the twins looking up at him with equally heartbreaking puppy dog faces. "No Keith! You have to come meet Papa and my Abuela! And Iris! Please?" Layla begged. 

Keith's expression softened and he nodded, "Alright. I'll get the stuff later."

Keith lets the kids lead him away, throwing a glance over his shoulder at Lance, who was walking behind them with a bemused look on his face. 

They kids lead Keith into the garage where a man works on a car. "Papa! Look! His name is Keith."

The garage was a mess of spilled paint cans and toys. Bikes and trikes lined the far right wall, and model planes hung from the ceiling. Lance's older brother, Mateo, was working on a blue 1967 Shelby GT500. 

Mateo looked up at Keith with a raised eyebrow. When he noticed Lance behind Keith, he grinned. "Hi Keith, you must be the boyfriend Mama made us clean for. I'm Mateo, Lance's older brother."

Keith had been looking around awkwardly, but nodded at Mateo.

He wiped grease off his hands and crossed over to Lance, pulling him in for a hug. "Hey Mateo." Lance grinned as he returned the hug.

"You two go on inside, Mama'll be wanting to meet you." Mateo shooed Lance and Keith away, "I need to try and get Daisy fixed up anyway."

Lance nodded before leading Keith inside by the wrist.

Mateo smiled to himself before turning back to his children. They were walking to follow after Lance and Keith. "Déjalos ser, niños."

The two of them pouted in response, "But why?" Layla whined.

"Callate ya, Hija. Be good and I'll take you to the bakery later." Alex and Layla beamed at their father before running off to continue their game in the front yard.

 

The inside of the house was pretty much how Keith expected. The walls were a burgundy color and paintings hung on a few walls. A big brown couch sat in the living room, as well as a few heavily cushioned chairs. Crayons and coloring books lay sprawled on the coffee table, and dolls abandoned in the corner.

 

Lance was currently engulfed in a rib-cracking hug from his mother, while Keith stood to the side awkwardly. After a couple seconds Alya released Lance and looked him up and down, holding his shoulders. "You're so thin, Papito. Have you been eating right?" She turned to Keith, "Has he been eating right?"

Keith was startled out of thought and looked up reaching for the right answer, "I make sure he eats something when we're together for meals?"

It wasn't a lie, Keith always makes everyone eat something if they're unwilling. Hunk and him were a power duo when it came to making people take care of themselves, Keith just did it in aggravation.

Alya squints at Lance and sighs. "Okay. I'm glad you're home, Papito. I've missed you." She smiled and reached to pat his cheek.

Alya was a short lady, she had round rosy cheeks and a smile that'd make the devil himself feel at home. Her hair was shoulder length, but she kept it tied up. When she spoke she had a faint Cuban accent. 

She stepped back and a new expression washed over her face, as if she'd just been hit with a realization. "Lance, when are you going to introduce me to your boyfriend?"

"Oh, yeah. Mama this is Keith, Keith this is my mother." Lance gestured to each of them.

Alya smiled warmly and stepped toward Keith. "Hi Keith, it's so good to meet you."

Keith tried the best he could to return her smile, "Hi Mrs. McClain, it's nice to meet you too."

Alya waved a hand of dismissal, "Call me Alya, please." 

A teenage boy came bounding down the stairs, "Lance!"

Lance turned around just in time to be tackled by his younger brother. He laughed as the two of them fell to the ground. "Hey Luis!" 

The two got up off the ground and hugged properly before Luis looked over to Keith. "Boyfriend?"

Keith shrugged, "Boyfriend."

Luis nodded, a look of approval on his face. "Nice, I'm Luis. My room is right next to y'all's by the way so maybe keep it down when you do the gay shit."

Keith coughed and looked away, his eyes wide. Lance sighed and grabbed Keith's hand again to take him to meet his sisters. "Honestly you guys need to stop breaking my boyfriend. Come on Keith."

Keith let himself be taken down a hall, Luis cackling behind them. Keith wasn't used to people joking about this kind of thing so easily, having Shiro and Adam be pretty much the only family he had. They rarely ever made jokes like that, and when one of them did the other swatted him. 

Lance stopped in front his sisters' room and turned to Keith. "Sorry about them, they've always been like that. Luckily my sisters should be better behaved."

He knocked on the door receiving a muffled "Who is it?" in return.

"Bubby. Let me in."

There was rustling and then the door opened to reveal a girl with blue eyes like Lance's but lighter. She was smiling brightly when she latched onto him. "I've missed you, bubby."

Lance hugged her back, "I've missed you too V." When they let go he stepped out of the way to introduce Keith. "This is Keith, my boyfriend. Keith this is Violett."

Keith smiled awkwardly, "Hi, Lance has talked about you a lot."

Violett grinned and hugged Keith. "It's nice to meet you."

Keith stiffened at first but then relaxed a little and hesitantly hugged her back. "It's nice to meet you too, Violett." He looked up to see Lance hugging another girl, presumably Julieta, the only other sister Lance had mentioned. "I suppose that makes you Julieta?"

Violett went back to stand by her sister, smiling proudly. "Yep! She had her Quinceañera last year."

Julieta let out a small smile. She signed,  _nice to meet you_

Lance turned to Keith "She sa-"

"It's nice to meet you too, Julieta." Keith smiled at Julieta, which she gleefully returned.

Lance gaped at Keith, "You never told me that you knew sign language?"

Keith shrugged, a smirk on his face "You never asked. I'm a man of  _many_ talents Lance, thought you'd know that by now." Keith winked at Lance, earning a giggle from Violett and Julieta as Lance sputtered for a response. Julieta seemed as surprised as Lance was at the giggle that escaped her lips.

Julieta wasn't short or tall, really. Her eyes were a deep brown, and her hair went down past her shoulders, but it was pulled back into a ponytail. When she fiddled with the fraying seams of her shirt, or adjusted it anxiously Keith noticed, it clicked with a faded memory deep in his brain.

Keith studied Julieta for just a moment more before looking out the window, allowing Lance to chat with his sisters in peace. A gust of wind came trough, sweeping up leaves from the ground and taking them from the oak tree. They swirled in a twister formation, and the twins came from seemingly nowhere to jump in the middle. It reminded Keith of when he used to chase down the leaf clusters in the park, when he still lived with his dad. He smiled fondly at the memory, unconsciously sliding his finger under the fabric of his glove and running it across the rough skin. 

His thoughts were interrupted when Lance grabbed Keith's arm, "Are you okay?"

Keith smiled and let out a shaky breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in. He nodded his head and opened his mouth to say something, but the words didn't come. He sighed in exasperation and tried again. Finally, when he found his voice, a strangled "I'm alright." was all he offered.

Lance nodded, and Julieta gave Keith a knowing look. 

Lance took Keith by the wrist, "Come on, let's get the stuff out of the car."

Keith nodded and turned to walk away, but stopped when Violett grabbed his arm. When he turned to her she smiled warmly and asked, "Will you and Lance come with me to my final fitting today?"

Keith looked to Julieta, who gave a small nod, then looked back to Violett. "We'll go. Just give us a few to get everything carried in."

Violett beamed at Keith and nodded before going to sit with Julieta.

Keith turned back to Lance and nodded, following him back to the car.

While they were unloading the bags Lance sighed and stopped suddenly, "Thank you, Keith."

"For what?"

"I don't know," Lance scoffed and shifted his weight uncomfortably, "everything? Just, you didn't have to do this for me and I know you can't stand me sometimes but you're doing it anyway. And you haven't like, seriously complained? At all? You've joked around like when I make a bad pun or something but you haven't been like, completely reluctant. And you're actually trying? And you're getting along with my family, hell, you made Julieta giggle! She rarely does that these days, but, I don't know, I guess you caught her off guard or some shit? Just," He signed and ran a hand through his hair, "Thank you."

Keith nodded and held his arms open, "Go on then, I know you're needing to, weirdo."

Lance chuckled and hugged Keith, "If you wanted a hug you should've said so, Keith. No need to make excuses."

Keith rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face. "Asshole."

They pulled apart and grabbed their luggage, going back into the house to get it all up the stairs. 

Once all of the bags were in Lance's room he immediately kicked off his shoes, took a deep breath, and collapsed on the bed. "Home sweet home." 

Keith looked around, the walls were (obviously) blue. On the walls hung pictures of different pieces of famous architecture. The Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum in Rome, the Louvre, the Lotus Temple, the Pantheon, and a drawing. Keith sat on the bed, before turning to Lance. "What's with the buildings?"

Lance grinned before shooting up, "I'm glad you asked, actually." Lance sat cross legged facing Keith, "I've always wanted to be an architect so my parents got me all of these to hang in my room."

Keith pointed at the drawing, "What's that?"

Lance raised his eyebrows, a crooked smile splayed across his face. "Go get it off the wall."

"Why?"

Lance shook his head, "Just trust me."

Keith scoffed, but got up and carefully took the framed drawing off the wall. It was an impressive picture of a victorian-like building. "What is it?"

"Hand it here."

Keith handed it over and watched as Lance undid the frame. He pulled out that paper and several others before leaning down and laying them on the ground. The first was the sketch of the outside of the building. The next three were floor plans. Then the next was a detailed drawing of the bottom half of the building, and the next a detailed drawing of the top half. "This is, this is great. I didn't know you could draw?"

Lance shrugged, "Only buildings, never had the patience for anything else."

Keith nodded, looking at all the papers. "It's still impressive."

Lanced grunted, laying back down. "I guess. We've got a while yet before the fitting, I'm going to take a nap."

Keith nodded and looked around the room awkwardly.

After a couple minutes Lance said, "You can lay down you know. This is a full sized bed and I can feel you sitting there awkwardly. It was a long car ride, rest or something."

Keith rolled his eyes and kicked off his shoes before crawling up to the empty space and tucked himself against the wall.

Lance shifted around until he was facing Keith. When he noticed Keith's gloves still on his hands he was unreasonably annoyed. "Keith, why in the hell do you still have those gloves on?"

Without moving Keith replied, "Don't look at them and it won't matter."

Lance tried to ignore them, really he did, but he couldn't. "No okay except it  _does_ matter."

"Maybe my hands are just cold."

"Keith, that can't be comfortable."

Keith tensed up, an edge to his voice. "Drop it, Lance."

"No." Lance glared at the back of Keith's head.

Keith sighed in exasperation and flopped over to face Lance, a fire lit behind his glare. "Listen, Lance. Drop it. At least for now and maybe later when I haven't been stuck in a car for like seventeen hours, I'll tell you." His glare softened to a look of pleading, "Just drop it. Please."

Lance studied Keith's eyes for a moment before sighing and turning over to lay on his back. "Fine."

"Thank you."

The two doze off quickly, not waking up until 12 when Violett and Luis come barging in. "Lance! Keith! Time to go!" Violett yells as she plops on the bed barely getting a grunt out of either one of them. 

Lance slowly opened his eyes, yawning. His right arm was draped over the side of the bed, his left under his head.

Keith ended up curled in a ball against the wall, holding onto the pillow his head lay on. Lance sat up and stretched, blinking at Violett. "Hey V." he yawned.

Lance looked at Luis and squinted, "You aren't going to the fitting, why are you here?"

Luis shrugged, "Cause I can be?"

"Fair enough." Lance turned to Keith and poked him. "Keith." 

Keith grunted and curled tighter against the wall.

Lance poked Keith again, harder. "Keith."

Keith whined and buried his face into the pillow. "No."

Lance smacked Keith's shoulder. "Get up dumbass."

Keith grunted and tried to scooch away, but the wall was there. 

Lance waited a few seconds until Keith relaxed again, loosening his grip on the pillow, and snatched it. 

Keith whined and rolled over, glaring at Lance. "Asshole."

Lance shrugged, "Time for the fitting."

Keith sat up, hair sticking up in all directions and a scowl on his face. 

Luis chuckled, "So you're a little spoon?"

Keith glared at Luis and shook his head, "I'm a knife."

Lance snorted, "You're a spork at best."

Keith frowned and scrunched his nose, "Meanie."

Violett intervened, waving her hand to get their attention. "As amusing as this is, we really do need to get going."

Lance nodded and stood up slipping on his shoes. He looked over at Keith who was glaring at the wall. "Keith the wall did nothing to you, get up."

Keith grunted but got up, going over to his bag and opening one of the outer pockets.

"Keith I swear if you get what I thi-"

Keith stood up holding his rainbow slides so Lance can see. "Fuck you these are awesome."

Lance sighed, "Alright I can't stop you."

Keith smiled smugly and put his slides on. He turned to Lance with a deadpan face. "Where's your hoodies?"

Lance raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What? Why?"

"I'm gay and cold. Don't comment on the slides I'm wearing socks." 

Lance sighed and pointed at his bag in the corner. "They're in that one."

Keith nodded and went over the the bag, pulling out the galaxy one. "Nice." He took off his jacket and slipped the hoodie on immediately then grabbed his sunglasses from his backpack, "Alright, ready to go."

Lance sighed, a small grin on his face "You're so  _gay_ Keith."

"Your point?"

Lance shrugged, "Fair enough."

They walked outside, all piling into Lance's car. "So  _this_ is why you guys wanted me to come. Julieta didn't want to drive." Lance turned around to see that Keith had given Violett his extra pair of sunglasses and Julieta found some in the pouch on the back of Keith's seat. "Keith, you're already a bad influence and you've known them for a few hours."

Keith turned and smiled at Lance, "Shut up and drive,  _doll._ " They drove in silence, Lance pouting, for a few seconds. "Calm down Lance," he reached into his backpack and pulled out a pair of aviators. "I didn't forget you."

Lance smiled and took the aviators. "Thanks, Keith."

They got to the boutique in the next town over, and when they got out of the car God knows what the people around them were thinking. They got inside, checked in, and sat down sending Violett into the fitting room with the seamstress. Keith could hear them chatting back in forth in Spanish, the seamstress didn't speak good English, Lance told him. After a while of poking Lance and chatting with Julieta in sign language, the seamstress came out to get our attention. She opened the door and helped Violett out. Her dress was a pale rosey pink, with intricate beading on the top. It had off the shoulder sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. She was beaming, and almost in tears when she looked in the mirror. Lance, by this point, was in tears and standing up. Julieta was smiling warmly from where she sat, her eyes sparkling. Lance had Violett twirl, both of them grinning. "You look like a princess, V."

The seamstress came back out holding a garment bag, "Let's see the young man in his suit."

Lance nodded and took the garment bag. "Thank you ma'am."

While waiting on Lance, Keith looked over and saw customizable bedazzled yeti cups. He made eye contact with Julieta, who also saw it, and raised an eyebrow. She nodded and Keith smiled and got up, crossing over to the desk. He whispered to the lady, who smiled and nodded before taking four pre-customized yeti cups and writing down the request on a piece of paper. 

Keith sat and made friendly conversation with Violett and Julieta until they called him to pick up the cups. He got them and went back to sit with Julieta and Violett, but Lance was already out of the fitting room. He was turning in a circle for Julieta and Violett to see. "You have good taste, V."

She smiled smugly, "I know."

Lance's suit was impressive, to say the least. It had a blue button up with a yellow plaid tie as the bottom layer, a brown vest with rose-gold buttons as the next, then cream colored dress pants and a matching suit jacket on top. He had a yellow handkerchief in his breast-pocket as the finishing touch. He turned and saw Keith. "How do I look?" He winked.

Keith smiled and walked up to him, he looked him up and down and shrugged. "Alright." He gave Lance one of the cups. Next he went over to Julieta and gave her a cup, then he sat down. "You both look lovely." 

Violett grinned, not even realizing he had given out cups. "Thank you!"

Lance gave Keith a Look, and Keith responded by wiggling one of the two cups in his hand.

Violett reluctantly left to change back into her regular clothes. Lance turned to do the same, but the seamstress held up her hand. "Hold on for a second."

Lance nodded and Violett came back out, still grinning.

Keith waved her over, "I got us all matching cups. Here."

He handed her the cup, she looked at it and chuckled. It said McClain in sparkly cursive letters, with sunglasses and a rhinestone crown above it. "Nice. Thanks."

Lance showed his, McClain in regular letters that transitioned from pink to blue to purple with sunglasses above it. 

Julieta showed her's, McClain in bold letters with sunglasses and a snowman above it.

Last but not least, Keith showed his. Kogane in regular crimson letters and sunglasses with a rainbow above it.

Suddenly, Violett squealed. "You're so right Juls!" she turned to Keith, "You should up there with Lance and hold up your cups up for a picture!"

Keith shifted uncomfortably, looking down at his outfit then at Lance. "Okay, I guess."

Keith picked up his cup and shuffled over to where Lance stood with his. Keith's shoes were flat and Lance's had a little bit of extra height. Lance was already taller than Keith so the shoes were not helping. Keith always slouched, so when he stood in front of Lance you could still see both of them. Keith held his cup in front of him with both hands and Lance wrapped his arms around and held his cup above Keith's. He laid his chin on top of Keith's head, earning a pout from Keith Just as the camera snapped a picture. They looked at the picture, Lance was smiling brightly and Keith had his nose scrunched up in distaste, sunglasses pushed up on his head.

Lance chuckled and put his cup down. "That's overwhelmingly gay."

"Maybe so." Keith sat back down and scrolled through tumblr on his phone.

Lance went back into the fitting room to take off the suit and came back out fifteen minutes later. "Ready when you guys are."

Violett, Julieta, and Keith put their sunglasses back on and walked on after thanking the seamstress. Lance rolled his eyes, "Dorks." he turned to the seamstress with a smile. "Thank you, Jaime. We'll see you Tuesday morning."

Jaime nodded and patted Lance on the shoulder, "See you then, and you tell Leo that he needs to get down here to try on his suit soon, okay?"

Lance chuckled, "Yes ma'am."

Lance walked out to the car, where the others were all shivering outside of it. Keith pouted, "I should've asked you for the keys. It wasn't this cold earlier. It's only November."

Lance laughed, "Yeah probably should've warned you how cold it was going to be today. Why didn't y'all just come back inside?"

"I'm too awkward."

"I'm too stubborn."

_did not think about that_

Lance sighed and unlocked the car, "You three are all disasters. Get in the car."

They all scrambled to get in the car, when Lance started it Keith immediately turned on the heat, Lance raised an eyebrow. "Aren't northerners supposed to be used to this?"

"Aren't southerners supposed to be rednecks?" Keith hissed.

"Fair enough." Lance pulled out of the parking lot and they all drove in silence for a while, until they passed a McDonald's.

"Lance!" Violetta screeched, pointing out the window.

Lance slammed on the brakes and instinctively shot his arm over to prevent Keith from falling forward. "Sorry Keith," he turned around. "What is it V? I could have crashed the car."

Julieta snorted.  _Since when are you responsible_

Lance glared. "Fair, but uncalled for."

Violett pointed again. "Chicken nuggets."

Lance checked the time, 3 pm. "Okay."

Lance pulled into the drive through and got everybody food, and himself a coffee. After he passed out all the food he sipped on his coffee, and Keith looked over and noticed he wasn't eating anything. He handed Lance five chicken nuggets, "Listen, if I just tell you to eat you'll say you aren't hungry. But, for me, please just eat these? You haven't eaten at all today and it's not healthy."

Lance wanted to protest but he looked at Keith, who had an expression mixed with determination and worry, and he looked at Violett who noticed the exchange and was looking worried. He sighed and took the napkin of chicken, "Alright."

They stopped at a mall to look around, and ended up riding the animal scooters for an hour. Julieta was obviously anxious, but every time she was on the verge of spiraling one of her siblings would do something ridiculous or Keith would get onto Lance for doing something stupid. Lance had to drag Keith away from a kiosk and Keith pouted because, "Lance they sell  _fucking knives._ " Then Keith broke out of Lance's grip because they passed a candy craze, and his sweet tooth took over. 

It's no secret that Keith likes to act tough and unapproachable, and while it is true that he's always been a bit of an anarchist, he's a completely different person when it comes to three things. Art, cryptids, and sweets. Lance sighed and followed Keith with Violett and Julieta. By the time they were all done, Violett and Julieta had each gotten one of those takeout boxes of candy, and Keith? Keith had a large bag, in the end he ended up paying eighteen dollars when he weighed his bag, as it was a pound of candy. Lance and the girls had already gone out of the store to wait on Keith, and in their place was a stranger.

He looked Keith up and down and smirked, "That's a lot of candy for such a little guy, yeah?"

Keith snarled at the guy, "Mind your own business, jackass."

_**-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-** _

 

 

 

Keith managed to walk off and got out of the store, but there was a sea of people and Keith didn't know where Lance and them had gone. He knew they were close, the food court was right there so they were probably sitting down. As he was trying to walk quickly and get there, he got pulled into a corner. The guy was the one who did it, "Feisty are we? I'm Scott."

Keith looked up at Scott, glaring. He was scared, but Scott didn't need to know that. "Well,  _Scott._ If you would be so kind as to get the fuck out of my way, it'd be much appreciated."

Scott smirked and leaned his head down whispering in Keith's ear, "You scared, faggot?"

Keith's mouth went dry, and he could feel the color drain from his face. But he stood his ground best he can. "No. Fuck off."

Scot chuckled and leaned back, "Then why are you trembling?"

"Anger." Keith looked up at the sound of someone in the distance calling his name, he looked over and saw Lance. "Lance!" he barked, voice dripping with panic.

Lance looked over and saw Keith's situation. He told Julieta to take Violett and go someplace else before running over to Keith and Scott. He tapped on Scott's shoulder, "Scuse me, sir. I believe that's my boyfriend you're harassing."

Scott turned around and laughed, and Keith took the opportunity to jog over to Lance's side, gaining his confidence back since he's no longer backed in a corner. Lance snarled and lead Keith away, Scott still cackling. "This is precious! The fag's boyfriend is a beaner, man you two freaks are ready for the circus huh?"

Keith stopped in his tracks before turning and hitting Scott square in the nose with an impressive right hook. "Grow up bastard, this is 2018 not the 50's."

 

 

_**-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-** _

 

Keith walks off with Lance smiling and feeling very pleased with himself, they left Scott with a bloody nose. "Nice, Keith."

Keith just shrugged and popped a gummy bear in his mouth. "I know. This wouldn't have happened if you'd let me buy the knife."

"That would have made me an irresponsible fake boyfriend. Besides you would've been arrested."

Keith waved a hand of dismissal. "Irrelevant."

"What do you mean irrelevant?" Lance looked at Keith in annoyance.

Keith and Lance continued to bicker back and forth on their way back over to the girls. They seemed to have a silent agreement not to talk about what happened. Violett and Julieta ran to meet them halfway, "What happened? Are you two okay?"

Keith stepped back, letting Lance tell them that everything was okay. He took a deep shaky breath and messed the the twisty thing on the bag of candy. Keith had been doing well in controlling his anxiety so far, but after that guy showed up, he's not so sure he can. Lance came over and put a hand on Keith's shoulder. "You wanna go back to the house? Dad and ma should have dinner done soon. You need to eat but then we can watch one of those old horror movies?"

Keith nodded his head, walking ahead of Lance towards the end of the mall they'd come in at. Lance sighed and walked after him, putting his arm around Julieta, who looked almost as shaken as he felt. 

Lance had always admired the way Keith kept his cool in difficult situations, but after getting to know him better he realized how much Keith struggled. Lance and Keith were friends in a way most can't understand. They don't know everything about each other, but they know enough to be able to help in certain situations. Pidge and Shiro know the most about Keith, but Lance understood specific things better. Lance was the one who could talk Keith down from a panic attack, Lance was the one who could talk Keith's ear off and give him something to distract himself with, Lance was the one who could make Keith grin when he just wanted to scream and break shit. But Lance also drove Keith insane, he was loud and talked a lot. Keith usually was quiet around the people at uni and Lance was, well, Lance. They were good friends on their own, but around others neither wanted to admit just how well they got along. Lance was at NYU on cheer scholarship, and Keith was a photographer for the Washington Square News and was on his way to graduating as an honor's student. Lance might not know what makes Keith the way he is, but he doesn't need to. You don't always need to know someone to be there for them, most of the time you just gotta be there. Right now, all Lance needed to do was get Keith through dinner and be there.

After a fifty minute car ride, they all arrived at the house at 6 and Alya immediately ushered everyone into the dining room. Leo was in the kitchen finishing up dinner, he looked over and smiled at Lance and his siblings. "¡Hey chicos! La cena está casi lista, por favor pon la mesa de Lance y Julieta."

"Si papá." Lance pulled Keith with him to get plates. "Papá, este es mi novio, Keith."

Leo looked up and smiled at Keith, looking him over. He turned back to Lance. "Demasiado flaco."

Leo smirked and turned off the stove and oven as Lance sputtered, "But dad! I'm skinnier than he is!"

"Then I guess we'll just have to fatten you both up, yeah?" Leo chuckled to himself while Lance pouted, pulling plates down from the cupboards.

"Callate Leo, duja dejugar con ellos." Alya came in playfully hitting her husband, before turning to Keith and patting his cheek. "Pay no attention to him, Keith. He's just messing around."

Leo wrapped his arms around Alya, placing a chaste kiss on her cheek. "Ah, you ruin my fun, mi reina." he looked back up to Keith with a warm smile. "Hi Keith, I'm Leo. We've heard a lot about you, but Lance never told us that  _you_ were the boyfriend," he chuckled. "Though with how he talked about you I suppose it's no surprise is it?"

Keith smirked and cocked an eyebrow at Lance, "It's nice to meet you too, Mr McClain. And, of course, I'll want to hear all about what Lance has said about me."

Leo chuckled as Lance ushered Keith out of the kitchen, leaving the plates behind. Leo grabbed the plates and put them around the table. "You can call me Leo, Keith. And Lance, I'll try my hardest not to embarrass you too much."

Lance was bright red and Keith giggled, covering his mouth. Luis came in bickering with Mateo at that exact time, and Lance did his best to regain his composure but failed. "Whoa Lance, haven't seen you that red since the popsicle incident." Mateo smirked and Luis chuckled.

Lance glared at them and Keith's head snapped towards to Mateo, "Popsicle incident?"

Luis gaped at Keith, "Lance hasn't told you?" a shit-eating grin slowly filled his face. "Oh finally an interesting family dinner."

Lance hid his face behind his hands and groaned, "Mama, do something."

Alya gave the boys a stern look. "Now, Luis," Lance perked up. "You know that story has to wait until after we pray over the meal so Lance can ask forgiveness in advance." 

Lance groaned again as Luis grinned again. "Yes, mama."

Leo came in and set the food on the table, "Lance asking for forgiveness, has Keith not heard the milkshake story yet?"

Lance groaned louder and Violeta walked in, "Ooh milkshake story time? Remember the band incident?"

Mateo grinned, "Yeah, and we were just talking about the popsicle incident!"

Keith beamed at everybody, then his eyes settled on Lance. "Boy you'd better hurry up and pray cause I'm hearing all of these stories tonight."

Julieta came in the room after washing her hands.  _Lance praying tonight must be prom story_

"We get it, I can't function in literally any vaguely compromising situation." Lance pouted and went to sit down. "Let me pray so we can get it over with before anyone remembers any more stories tonight."

Everyone chuckled before sitting down at the table, Mateo had already given his kids dinner and they were tucked in bed asleep since they had to get up early for a birthday party at a friend's house the next day. After everyone was seated, (Leo next to Alya, Mateo next to Luis, Violett next to Julieta, and Keith next to Lance) Lance began to pray. "Lord thank you for this meal and the wonderful father who prepared it, help it to the nourishment of our bodies, also please forgive me for everything that happened in the stories that my wonderfully cruel family are about to tell. Amen."

Everyone looked up and Keith grinned widely, "Could I hear the popsicle story first?"

Luis giggled, "Okay, I'll tell it. So, three years ago Lance was a hormonal junior in high school and had a boyfriend named Jacob. They had been dating for about a month and Jacob came over for their weekly movie night, now, Jacob was a slut-"

"Luis," Alya raised an eyebrow at him.

Leo nudged Alya and shrugged, "He's not wrong dear."

Alya thought for a moment, "Fair enough, carry on Luis."

"Right so, Jacob was a slut but Lance pretty oblivious. It was still pretty hot out since it was September and both of them were eating popsicles. Jacob was eating his exactly how you'd expect from him, he had hollowed cheeks and made eye contact with Lance several times. Lance, as you probably know by now, is weak for eyes. Not any specific color, just eyes. And when Jacob gave him a certain look while fuckin deep-throating his popsicle, Lance was destroyed. He turned bright red and he had a drop from his popsicle on the corner of his mouth. Jacob leaned over and swiped it off his face with his finger, before licking it off his finger making eye contact. Lance turned an even deeper shade of red and had no idea I had been standing there the whole time. I said hey to the two of them and Lance squealed like a little girl and Jacob smirked and settled back into his spot on the couch. Lance hid for the rest of the day and still to this day blushes every time someone brings it up."

Keith snorted and Lance kicked him underneath the table. Leo went next, telling about the time Lance's ex girlfriend Jaycee and him shared a milkshake and she kissed him then backed away saying he tasted like vanilla, Lance was embarrassed for really no reason other than he was an anxious little teenager. Then Violett went, telling the story about the guy in the band at the talent show. Everyone was telling stories about Lance that he would've never told Keith on his own. Lance acted a lot more embarrassed than he really felt, mostly he was happy that Keith was forgetting the events of the day. He shook his head as Keith giggled and sipped from his bedazzled cup. 

"Wow love that you're getting joy from my misery," Lance said to Keith under his breath.

"Bold of you to assume I feel joy." Keith shot back.

At the end of dinner Leo and Alya went to do the dishes. Mateo and Luis bickered on their way to the living room. Violett showed Julieta the last minute decisions she made on decorations which Julieta happily looked at. Lance lead Keith into the kitchen and hopped up to sit on the counter. Keith stood in front of him, and naturally he started playing with Keith's hair. Leo smiled at the two, "You two have had a long couple of days. Keith, you look exhausted. Y'all should get some rest tonight, I promise you you won't miss anything important." He chuckled.

Lance nodded, "But you see, the thing is, I just sat down."

"Sounds like a personal problem." Leo smiled and handed a now dried pot to put away.

Lance groaned and hopped down. "Fine, come on Keith."

Keith followed Lance upstairs to his room. Keith grabbed some sweatpants and went to the bathroom to change. He came out wearing the same hoodie from earlier along with the aforementioned sweatpants. Lance was wearing plaid pajama bottoms and no shirt. Keith sat on the bed against the wall, hugging his knees to his chest and scrolling through tumblr. He still had on the gloves. Lance sighed, turning off the overhead light and turning on the lamp on his bedside table. He crawled on the bed and sat beside Keith, poking his side. "Gloves?"

Keith looked down and sighed. "I s'pose I did tell you I'd explain, huh?"

Lance nodded, "Yep."

Keith swallowed hard, nodding. He loosened the gloves before slipping them off, revealing scarred skin. "There."

Lance reached for his hand, stopping halfway to look up asking permission, Keith just nodded and Lance reached the rest of the way. He took Keith's hand and ran a finger along the rough skin. He tugged at the sleeve and Keith's breath hitched. "Can I...?"

Keith's voice came out strangled. "Go ahead."

Lance nodded and gently pulled Keith's sleeve up, revealing more scarring. "What happened?"

"Fire."

Lance trailed a finger along the marred skin, "So these are?"

"Burn scars, yeah. That's not even the worst of it." Keith chuckled dryly. He raised his shirt, showing even more harsh scarring. He also rolled up his left pant leg to show the scar from a skin graft he had to have. Two of the scars on his chest, Lance could tell, weren’t burn marks. 

Lance ran his finger over one of them and Keith’s breath hitched, every instinct telling him to run. “Keith,” his voice was soft, like he didn’t want to scare him “What’s this?”

Keith’s voice came out strangled, “I uh. I haven’t always looked like this Lance.” 

Lance’s eyes grew wide in realization and Keith’s face burned. “Keith, are you...?” 

Keith clamped his eyes shut and nodded, not trusting his voice. 

Lance trailed his finger all along Keith’s scars. He knew he didn’t have to talk, he knew all he had to do was let Keith pull his shirt down if he wanted, he did. All he needed to do was sit right there and look at the wall, he did. All he needed to do was take Keith’s hand and trace the scars gently, and he did. Keith shook and small quiet sobs escaped him, all the pent up anxiety of the day took this feeling of relief as a sign that it’s okay to let go. So Keith did let go, and Lance was right there to catch him when he did. Lance let Keith sob, certain times he’d feel Keith’s head on his shoulder and he’d run a reassuring hand through his hair. 

They fell asleep like that, fingers intertwined and propped up against one another. Lance knew all of this needed to happen so he let it, he’d do anything for his friends, even Keith. 

Each knew the other well enough to understand that words aren’t needed in times like these, tragic backstories aren’t important. All Lance needed to know was that something happened, if Keith wanted Lance to know the details then he’d tell him on his own.


End file.
